# Is it possible that refined sugar has non-vegan (i.e., animal) elements in it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 5, 2004, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-that-refined-sugar-has-non-vegan-i-e-animal-elements-in-it/253670 "2004-07-05T18:00:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Elizabeth99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elizabeth99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elizabeth99)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-that-refined-sugar-has-non-vegan-i-e-animal-elements-in-it/253670/1 "2004-07-05T18:00:25Z")
There is a common belief among certain vegans I know that refined sugar is bleached using animal bones, and they therefore refuse to eat refined sugar. They only will eat “sugar in the raw” or honey. Are there any ideas of where this belief came from? I could not find anything in the archives here or in some urban legends sites. The animal bones in sugar idea is cracked, yes? Could this _ever_ have been true historically? This idea is causing disharmony among vegans - it must be stopped. Elizabeth p.s., if you’d like to comment on vegans eating yeast-produced breads I’d get a smile out of that, as well. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-that-refined-sugar-has-non-vegan-i-e-animal-elements-in-it/253670/2 "2004-07-05T18:09:33Z")
I don’t know about _in_ it, adn I’ve never heard of animal bones being used to bleach anything (they _are_ used in the form of bone meal to neutralize acidic soil). However, I’m quite certain a large number of animals are killed in the process of growing and harvesting the sugar cane, either outright (to keep them from destroying the crop), or incidentally (due to the indiscriminate nature of the harvesting machinery). ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-that-refined-sugar-has-non-vegan-i-e-animal-elements-in-it/253670/3 "2004-07-05T18:16:00Z")
I should clarify a statement. I don’t know if bone meal is used specifically in sugar cane production. I don’t think it is. I _do_ remember my mother using lots of it in her garden for some plant or other that was fussy about the soil acidity. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-that-refined-sugar-has-non-vegan-i-e-animal-elements-in-it/253670/4 "2004-07-05T18:28:00Z")
> [@Elizabeth99](#): > > There is a common belief among certain vegans I know that refined sugar is bleached using animal bones, and they therefore refuse to eat refined sugar. They only will eat “sugar in the raw” or honey. Wait…honey’s not Vegan, is it? Whole ‘animal product’ thing… ---
**Author:** ![mike1dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@mike1dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mike1dog)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-that-refined-sugar-has-non-vegan-i-e-animal-elements-in-it/253670/5 "2004-07-05T18:50:47Z")
If Vegans couldn’t eat bread because of yeast, could they drink beer? Of course, according to this [column,](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_356b.html) I’m not sure what’s in beer. If you’re going to avoid eating anything with single-celled organisms, then you’ll probably die of starvation. ---
**Author:** ![mike1dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@mike1dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mike1dog)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-that-refined-sugar-has-non-vegan-i-e-animal-elements-in-it/253670/6 "2004-07-05T18:59:44Z")
Here’s a [website](http://www.sucrose.com/lref.html) which outlines two methods of bleaching sugar. One is activated charcoal, and the other uses some sort of resin. I don’t know if either comes from bone meal, however. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-that-refined-sugar-has-non-vegan-i-e-animal-elements-in-it/253670/7 "2004-07-05T19:27:19Z")
As a designed-in ingredient or part of the proceessing process, almost certainly not. But 100% of food processing plants have bugs and vermin. The regulations hold the number to a low level, but it isn’t zero. So in every 5lb bag of sugar there’s sure to be a few milligrams or micrograms of roach leg and/or mouse hair and/or rat poop. That’s equally true of the raw sugar as well. If you want to be a purist about multicellular animals you must eat only plants that you yourself have cleaned. You can’t even make your own flour or sugar because you can’t 100% ensure a gnat or two won’t get in. ---
**Author:** ![Elizabeth99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elizabeth99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elizabeth99)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-that-refined-sugar-has-non-vegan-i-e-animal-elements-in-it/253670/8 "2004-07-05T19:27:32Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > Wait…honey’s not Vegan, is it? Whole ‘animal product’ thing… Ooops, you’re correct. (Obviously I am not Vegan, am I) I confirmed with the vegan’s spouse that the vegan in question definitely refuses honey, also. Thank you, Tengu! ---
**Author:** ![Earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@Earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthling)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-that-refined-sugar-has-non-vegan-i-e-animal-elements-in-it/253670/9 "2004-07-05T19:32:37Z")
From [vegan.org](http://vegan.org)’s [FAQ](http://www.vegan.org/FAQs/#6): > [@](#): > > **Is refined sugar vegan?** It depends on how you define ‘vegan.’ Refined sugars do not contain any animal products, and so by an ingredients-based definition of vegan, refined sugar is vegan. However, some refined sugar is processed with animal bone char. The charcoal is used to remove color, impurities, and minerals from sugar. The charcoal is not ‘in’ the sugar, but is used in the process as as a filter. Thus by a process-based definition of vegan, refined sugar may not be considered vegan… > > However, if one accepts a process-based definition of vegan, then many other familiar products would also not be considered vegan. For instance…in many areas, groundwater and surface water is filtered through bone charcoal filters. So, is a box of pasta that contains no animal products, but…cooked in boiling water at your home, vegan? Under a process-based definition, possibly not. But according to such a definition, it would be difficult to find any products in this country that are vegan. > > \ > > Again, we recommend that vegans concentrate their attention on the most obvious animal ingredients. In our experience, concentrating on processing or on trace ingredients can make a vegan diet appear exceedingly difficult and dissuade people from adopting it. And from [Vegetarian Journal](http://www.vrg.org/journal/vj97mar/973sugar.htm): > [@](#): > > Bones from cows are the only type used to make bone char. According to the Sugar Association and several large sugar producers, all of the cows have died of “natural causes” and do not come from the U.S. meat industry. > > \ > > Refined sugar does not contain any bone particles and is therefore kosher certified. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-that-refined-sugar-has-non-vegan-i-e-animal-elements-in-it/253670/10 "2004-07-05T20:37:57Z")
“Sugar in the raw” is refined Sugar on which a bit of molasses has been sprayed. ---
**Author:** ![InvidiousCourgette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@InvidiousCourgette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InvidiousCourgette)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-that-refined-sugar-has-non-vegan-i-e-animal-elements-in-it/253670/11 "2004-07-05T21:03:36Z")
I used to work for a sugar refiner in the UK. One of the processes they used was to decolourise sugar syrup (so the sugar was nicely white) with bone char. It is a form of carbon produced from animal bones. It would not end up in the sugar but it was in contact with it. ---
**Author:** ![Wikkit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c0e974/32.png) [@Wikkit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wikkit)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-that-refined-sugar-has-non-vegan-i-e-animal-elements-in-it/253670/12 "2004-07-05T22:25:55Z")
> [@Earthling](#): > > And from [Vegetarian Journal](http://www.vrg.org/journal/vj97mar/973sugar.htm): > > > [@](#): > > > > Bones from cows are the only type used to make bone char. According to the Sugar Association and several large sugar producers, all of the cows have died of “natural causes” and do not come from the U.S. meat industry. In what situation are cows dying of “natural causes”? Are there vast wild groups of Hawaiian cows that I haven’t herd of? ---
**Author:** ![Earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@Earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthling)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-that-refined-sugar-has-non-vegan-i-e-animal-elements-in-it/253670/13 "2004-07-05T22:31:45Z")
From the linked article: > [@](#): > > Bone char is derived from the bones of cattle from Afghanistan, Argentina, India and Pakistan. The sun-bleached bones are bought by Scottish, Brazilian, and Egyptian marketers, who sell them to the U.S. sugar industry after the bones are first used by the gelatin industry. So I’d guess these are agricultural beasts of burden who died of old age. ---
**Author:** ![Earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@Earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthling)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-that-refined-sugar-has-non-vegan-i-e-animal-elements-in-it/253670/14 "2004-07-05T22:34:06Z")
Or maybe they’re milk cows. I don’t know what the standard treatment is for a cow who’s past her productive years. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-that-refined-sugar-has-non-vegan-i-e-animal-elements-in-it/253670/15 "2004-07-05T22:34:55Z")
**Earthlling’s** link from _Vegetarian Journal_ reassures :dubious: us that only bones from cows that died a “natural” death are used in sugar bleaching. Frankly, I’m not pleased about using bones from sick cows instead of slaughterhouse bones, which, by definition, are from healthy animals. I’m a carnivore, if you hadn’t figured that out. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-possible-that-refined-sugar-has-non-vegan-i-e-animal-elements-in-it/253670/16 "2004-07-05T22:36:49Z")
> [@Wikkit](#): > > In what situation are cows dying of “natural causes”? Are there vast wild groups of Hawaiian cows that I haven’t herd of? Sugar is not refined in Hawai’i (to any significant extent). Even when Hawai’i was a major player in sugar, most of the refining was done in California.